Raw Reaction: Recapping and Grading the Latest Episode (8/13)

Welcome to the second edition of Raw Reaction: The DVR edition. On this edition, we continue to close in on SummerSlam, the biggest event of the summer.

What will come of the CM Punk-John Cena-Big Show feud? What will AJ pull as the general manager this week? Will Brock Lesnar get his hands on Shawn Michaels?

Here are the grades for the promos and matches only.

CM Punk vs. Big Show

This is the first Raw in a while that kicked off with a match, so that is a good start.

With any Big Show match, the pace was slow. Luckily, it started to pick up toward the middle-end of the match.

I like Daniel Bryan's entrance to the match and his interference. While I believe he is booked to wrestle Kane at SummerSlam, I hope he is actually included in the WWE title match.

The DQ ending was a good way to end the match, though it was predictable. When John Cena came out and cleared the ring, I again shook my head at him taking out both Show and Bryan.

Then stupidity came. AJ came to the ring and made a tag team match later tonight which lacks common sense. Why would you have CM Punk and John Cena team up if they have a title match at SummerSlam?

Also, why are Big Show and CM Punk getting booked for double duty? There are plenty of guys on the roster itching for TV time, yet you give Punk and Big Show two matches on the night.

I have very mixed feelings on this open to the show.

Grade: C-

JTG vs. Ryback

JTG was complaining to Kaitlyn about not getting any TV time. AJ walked by and granted him a match. I liked that, especially after last week's Twitter rant.

This is definitely punishment for JTG's Twitter rant last week, as Ryback is his opponent.

As with all of Ryback's matches, he dominated and was super stiff with JTG. The fans seem to be getting into him more as his "Feed Me More" chant was incredibly audible throughout the arena.

His power moves are impressive, but it's more of the same. Poor JTG.

Grade: C

R-Truth vs. Heath Slater

It was announced that Santino Marella will defend the United States Championship against Antonio Cesaro on the pre-show at SummerSlam. Hopefully, he gets the belt off Marella.

Heath Slater was in the ring cutting a promo when R-Truth cut him off. They had a pretty good match. To be honest, Slater is a solid wrestler.

It wasn't a long match, with Truth earning the pinfall victory.

After the match, the Primetime Playas came out and attacked R-Truth. Kofi Kingston was not in the building, so Truth had no backup.

The jumping was a very good way to heat up the feud heading into SummerSlam.

Grade: B

Sin Cara vs. Tensai

The first thing that came to my mind was, "this match can't be good, these guys won't have chemistry."

Actually, for as short as the match was, it wasn't bad. Sakamoto tried to get involved twice and Cara took care of him. Sin Cara won with a tornado DDT-like manuever, continuing the downfall of Tensai.

After the match, Tensai destroyed Sakamoto like usual.

Grade: B-

Piper's Pit

I just want to state that I hate Raw Active. That's all I got to say about that (Forrest Gump voice).

Chris Jericho ended up being the guest on Piper's Pit. After some back and forth, Vickie Guerrero came out and introduced Dolph Ziggler.

Highlight of the promo had to be Jericho telling Vickie to "shut the hell up."

Out of nowhere, The Miz came out, which makes no sense to me as he isn't involved in the feud. Miz declared he was taking over the show and told Jericho and Piper to leave.

Everything broke down, with Jericho and Piper standing tall. It was good to see Piper's Pit, but it really didn't do much.

Grade: C

Chris Jericho vs. the Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler

Another questionable booking, in my opinion, as Jericho, Miz and Ziggler had a triple threat match. I think they needed to save the Jericho-Ziggler wrestling for the pay-per-view.

Obviously, the heels worked over Jericho together for most of the match. And as usual, the heels turned on each other when one went for the pin.

I have to say, even though there were nice spots in the match, I really wasn't interested because I was waiting for Ziggler and Jericho to throw down at SummerSlam.

At the end, Guerrero distracted the ref while Jericho had Miz in the Walls of Jericho and Miz was tapping. Ziggler came in from behind and hit the Zig Zag for the win.

Grade: B+

Eve then talked to CM Punk backstage and basically said Cena doesn't respect Punk as the champion, or something like that.

That followed with Punk confronting Cena. They have the same conversation as they last time they talked backstage.

Layala and Kaitlyn vs. Eve Torres and Beth Phoenix

These Wade Barrett vignettes are sick. I am super pumped for his return.

We then went to a tag team Diva's match between Layla-Kaitlyn and Eve Torres-Beth Phoenix. Good to see Beth, Eve and Layla get some TV time, considering AJ seems to be the only diva that gets time on Raw.

Layla's dancing around and butt to the face shows that she may be turning into a comedy character. I don't like that at all, especially because she is the champion.

I thought that Layla and Kaitlyn were sloppy. Beth looked very good, while Eve looked pretty good as well.

The match went pretty long for a women's match. The ending came with a roll-up (in a Diva's match?! No way!) and Beth Phoenix took the fall.

Beth gets no respect anymore.

Grade: D

CM Punk and John Cena vs. Big Show and Daniel Bryan

The new unstable, no-yelling Daniel Bryan is so much better than the old Daniel Bryan. His interactions with the crowd now are great.

I liked that Cena and Punk kept tagging themselves in. The first part of the match was pretty good. Everyone, excluding Bryan, looked strong.

Big Show dominated most of the match. Bryan's continually tagging in when Show was in control was great, even though Bryan was booked incredibly weak.

Punk attempted the Five Knuckle Shuffle but Cena tagged in. Cena then did Punk's running knee to bulldog. That knee looked horrible.

Big Show and Punk left their partners behind and Cena pinned Bryan for the win.

After the match Show went to attack Cena, but Punk cut him off with a title belt to the head. Punk went to shake Cena's hand, but Cena did not shake it.

That makes some things interesting.

Grade: B+

Damien Sandow vs. Christian

I have said this a few times now, but I am a huge fan of Damien Sandow. He is a great heel and has main event potential.

As for the match, there was some nice action from both men. Sandow's aggressiveness is great and shows great brutality.

Brodus Clay tried to interfere, but Sandow still pulled off the win over Christian. This looks like the feud that Clay has been looking for.

Grade: B

Triple H-Brock Lesnar Contract Signing

Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar entered first. Heyman cut a promo that really got the crowd heated. I am so happy the WWE made him Lesnar's mouthpiece, as he is still among the best in the game on the mic.

After some strategic trash talk, Heyman got Shawn Michaels to come down to the ring. Nothing was said, before Triple H made his entrance.

Triple H picked up the pen immediately and signed the contract. Lesnar then followed suit and signed. before walking out of the ring and leaving Michaels and Triple H behind.

That had to be one of the most uneventful, time-wasting contract signings in WWE history. It's a product of filling three hours.

Grade: C

Conclusion

The end of the show saw Heyman and Lesnar ambush Michaels in the parking lot. The screen went black and we only heard the beat down. This was a good way of leading into Lesnar and Triple H's match at SummerSlam.

Apparently, Lesnar kidnapped Michaels after he destroyed him. He dragged him out to the ring. Lesnar gave Michaels and F-5 as the crowd booed on.

Lesnar threw on the kimura and "broke" Michaels' arm. Hopefully, it wasn't as bad as Triple H's (obviously sarcastic).

Overall, for a send-home show, it wasn't bad. There wasn't much to write home about, but it could have definitely been a lot worse.

Biggest disappointment was probably Piper's Pit, while the shining point was probably the progression of the Cena-Punk-Big Show feud.

Grade: C+